Android P might end up getting a notification toolbar for quick actions if an update that went out to the ‘Reply’ app recently is anything to go by. Following a recent update to Reply’s Play Store listing, a screenshot was added which shows an incoming message notification, along with the smart reply suggestions options that have been part of the app since it was announced and will also be coming to Android P when it officially launches later this year. Building on those suggestions it seems that the team behind the Reply app (Area 120) may be adding some more functionality in the form of a toolbar below the smart replies.
These actions list off a number of different functions that the user can initiate based on a single tap. These options all seem to be reminder-based and will include adding a new reminder, sending the message to another recipient, snoozing the notification for one hour, and the ability to set reminders for when users arrive at both work and home. As the first two actions suggest if a user taps either one of these then the notification will likely disappear and then reappear once the user arrives at the location of the action they tapped. So, if the user taps the “Remind me at home” action then Reply would likely know when the user arrives home based on location and resurface the message notification at that time. The same thing would go for work, just at work instead.
It’s important to note that the quick actions bar below the smart suggestions is not available in Reply, so the feature could be in testing internally and may never actually make it to the app, and it’s just as possible that this isn’t actually part of Reply but instead part of Android P and may apply to all incoming notifications across the system. In either case users will know soon enough, as this may end up being discussed during Google I/O 2018 if it’s a system-level Android P feature and if it’s part of Reply then it may eventually show up for users to take advantage of.
